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The Disease of Hypocrisy

Translated from a sermon by Fr Boulos George

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The hypocrisy embedded in the hearts of the Pharisees was a disease. A disease that is still present in our church, and can strike the church and its people at anytime. If this happens, the consequences are dire for the spiritual life that lacks depth.

I want to give you an example of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in our modern world. Sometimes we can become obsessed with the image of worship, and not the relationship with God. It is not bad to be organised and to appear holy. The problem arises when there is an obsession with the appearance only. We must ensure the inside is taken just as much care of as the outside. If all our attention is on polishing the outer, and ignoring the inner, then we are guilty of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy prevents us from spiritual growth.

Other times we focus on the look and not meaning. One time, a lady came to me and said, “I want to ask you a question but don’t be offended.”

I replied cusiously, “go ahead.”

She said, “You know how in the liturgy, we pray from the Agpia hours and eventually we end up praying the Lord’s Prayer so many times?”

“Yes, go on.”

“To be honest, I have an issue with this. You pray it too quickly. I am just beginning and you’re finished already and moving on. Who has the chance to be moved by prayer at that speed?”

At this, I was so ashamed, I said, “Honestly, you have a point. This is not right on my part. I thank you for calling me out on this, and that God sent you to wake me up to pray with honesty and serenity.”

Sometimes, I can be so proud of myself for praying all the hours- but what did I feel? If I rush, I have no time to be moved by prayer. I just want to finish, and feel like I have accomplished something. This is hypocrisy. I retained the image of the liturgy, but I have not applied its meaning. I haven’t prayed anything, and this is another form of hypocrisy.

The next story I want to share really broke my heart. One day, there was a deacon from a particular church that went to pray at a different church. At this church, all of the deacons had a specific thread in their tunics that distinguished them as being part of that church. This deacon did not know that. He went with his own tunic and took it to the priest praying the mass to bless it and he did so. When he went to wear his tunic, one of the head deacons said to him, “Brother, what church are you from?”

He replied with the name of his church and the deacon said to him, “Welcome, you can attend the liturgy but you cannot serve as a deacon.”

The man replied, “Why not?”

“Our tunics are all matching but yours is different.”

Who could believe such a thing?! We were so careful to have matching tunics and to appear united but we stomped upon the meaning of love and unity. Where is the hospitality and the welcoming of guests? If we have a guest, we shouldn’t just allow them to serve, but give them the most prominent role. The reality of this lack of hospitality is hypocrisy.

Fr Mikhail Ibrahim went to pray the liturgy on one of the feast days. As he entered, he found a child crying. He called to him and asked him, “what’s wrong?”

“I was crying because I came late and missed out on a spare tunic from the cupboard”

What do you think Abouna would do? He took off his own tunic and gave it to the boy. He said, “It can’t be a feast day and the Lord looks down and sees one of His children crying.”

Anyone would say that according to the church dogma, a priest’s tunic that has been prayed on cannot be taken off again. But, the Christian knows that love is more important. He could not pray while he knew there was a boy so upset. If the people saw a priest without a tunic, 100 people would offer there’s up for him! No one would to give it to a young boy. The difference is that some people protect the depth of their spirituality and others focus on the outward appearance.

In another instance, in the earlier 80s, Fr Tadros Y. Malaty was giving a lecture on, “Dogmatic Theology,” at the Theological College in Alexandria. He would allow the people to ask questions. Someone asked the question, “I am extremely disheartened when I go to the Vespers and I see the priest chanting ‘O God have mercy…’ and carrying three candles. I read in the holy books that only the bishop is to carry three candles and the priest carries one candle. All priests nowadays carry three candles instead of one and this goes against church dogma.”

Fr Tadros responded, “calm down, my son, it doesn’t matter if the priest carries one candle or three candles, what matters is that he does this with a broken and a contrite heart, asking for mercy for himself and the people whom he serves.”

It is good to protect our dogma, it is very good to protect our traditions. Without traditions, we have no defence, and everyone does whatever they want. But above all, the most important thing to stop us from falling into the trap of hypocrisy is to fix our eyes on our Lord and the inner depth of dogma and not just its physical appearance. Instead of worshiping the dogma, we must practically apply inwardly, and this is our shield against hypocrisy.

Look at Me

adapted from a sermon by Fr Louka Sidarous

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The Lord is saying to us, “This is Me; All you need to do is to look at Me, crucified and dying for you. Look at My Passion and My wounds; Look at Me”. Is this a hard thing, dear children?”

It is the easiest of things, just to look. The Lord did not ask for anything more but to look – the simplest of tasks. Sometimes we think otherwise – We might think “So what? What is it to look to the Cross, to the Passion of Christ? What is this? This is nothing, I gain nothing”.

But please, go back to the Children of Israel when they travelled through the wilderness around the land of Edom, and they will teach you. Those who didn’t look to the bronze serpent – they died. But what of their salvation? It was the simplest thing: Just to look, to look in faith. Look sincerely, and you will receive everything.

Simply, you will receive life – Life in Christ.
There is no need to complicate matters. Some of us might say “I have a lot of problems in my life. My problems are very deep, very complicated and I am suffering”.

Just look. Do nothing but look to Christ. He is the Saviour. What about the problems here inside me? It is like the poison that ran through the veins of the Children of Israel – Death was my poison, but my salvation is to look to Christ. He will perform the miracle, and the Life of Christ will enter our being. The Lord Christ explained this in a simple picture in front of Nicodemus. He said to this old man Nicodemus that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”, and so Nicodemus became a disciple of Christ.

You know the right-hand thief – what did he do to be saved? He did nothing. Death was upon him, and he was suffering, but he looked to Christ. That’s all. And he asked, “remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom” and the Lord answered “This day, you will be with me in paradise”.

This. day.

The right-hand thief did nothing except look to Christ. Believe this thing – to look at him. The Lord put everything to the greatness of our faith but expressed this in the simplest form ever. I need the life of Christ in me. I need to feel that Christ is here. I need to feel Him. I need to be in Him. I need to have the conviction that He is in here. And He put it in the simplest form ever – what is this simple form?

The Eucharist, the great mystery. And what is the substance of this form? The Orbana – bread to eat, the simplest food. The whole thing, Christ Himself, my Creator, the abundance of the grace of the Lord, the forgiveness of sins, in what form? The simplest and most basic form; Food and drink. Easy.

Be assured that in Christianity there are no complications. Christianity is simple. When the Lord came into our world, he became a man, a very simple Child in a manger. And He, when He was incarnated, taking the form of a very simple Man, walked in common fields, wearing simple common garments, speaking to commoners, speaking to anybody – no security, no army, no police force. You don’t have to have an appointment to meet with Him. Just look.

The Cycle of Repentance

adapted from a sermon by Fr Paul Fanous

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The journey that we are going to go through today is the cycle of repentance. The cycle of repentance describes the forgiveness of God, from the beginning of the journey to the end of the journey.

The beginning point is that unfortunately, we all sin. No one can escape sin, St Paul is clear on that, there’s none righteous, no one will escape this idea of sin or committing mistakes in front of God.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is written about a father who had two sons. He had one son that stayed at home, and he had one son that took the money, wasted and squandered it. Both are on the journey of repentance to return to their father.

The younger son – the more obvious sinner – actually comes back sooner. The second son, at the end of the parable, we don’t know if he actually returns, but both are on the journey. Part of the understanding of this idea of the forgiveness of God is that we recognise two things;

1. We are all sinners
2. We don’t judge other people for sinning, we endeavour to forgive those around us.

No one is righteous because we’re all under the same condition, we all make the same mistakes. If we hold people to a high standard, then God will apply the same standard to us, and we will make the same mistakes as them. To carry on to the next stage is to acknowledge the sin.

 As a hand full of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God

St Isaac the Syrian

St Isaac is saying that even though sometimes our sins feel really big and sometimes we feel we’re very far from the Father. The Father’s mind is like an ocean a little bit of sand has been thrown in to. The love of the Father is not affected by our sin, the love of the Father is not affected by the mistakes we make.

The Father in this parable sits and waits for the return of his son. His mercy is available but he waits for his son to return. My wickedness can never change the feeling of forgiveness. We must understand this crucial part of this journey is remembering that the Father’s love for me does not change. Nothing you can do is wicked enough, nothing you can do is bad enough, nothing you can do is deep enough that God would not accept you back. Not only would He, but He is waiting to accept you back.

Just as a strongly flowing fountain is not blocked up by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the creator is not overcome by the wickedness of His creatures,

St Isaac the Syrian

The next part of the journey is that as the son takes the money and squanders it, he experiences famine. He has this moment of awakening, he has this moment where he says, “what am I doing here? Couldn’t I be a servant of my father?”

Repentance is the gateway to mercy. It is open for all who seek it. By way of this gate, we enter into divine mercy and apart from this entrance, one cannot find mercy.

St Isaac the Syrian

 So, there is a trigger point for the mercy of God. The mercy of God is waiting but there is something that we do that triggers the mercy of God, it opens up the mercy of God. It is available to everyone but we reach it through repentance. Repentance is a self-awakening. I begin to adjust my behaviour, I become alert to myself and my mistakes.

Fear is the paternal rod which guides us as far as a spiritual Eden but once we have reached there, it leaves us and turns back. Eden consists in a divine love.

St Isaac the Syrian

Maybe what wakes me up is fear, maybe what wakes me up is guilt, maybe what triggers me to go back is fear of bearing consequences of my mistakes. But it only brings me to the door.

Once I enter the door, what does the father do? He runs out, he robes me. He says, “be merry, come and feast.” It is love that continues the journey. When I walk the journey with God, love is the driving force, it’s not fear, fear is the beginning point, it brings me to the door, but love is what continues.

Guilt has no place in the spiritual life, except to return me to repentance. I don’t sit and wallow in my guilt. Unfortunately, some of us hold onto our guilt and don’t let it go even when we’ve returned, we maintain our guilt, we feel that God could never accept me. This is a toxic mindset and it keeps me from returning to God. The Father is sitting and waiting, He’s robing the people, He wants you in the feast, He doesn’t want you staying outside feeling lousy, He wants just enough guilt to bring me back.

Part of the journey is to be cleansed and to leave the guilt and the fear and to continue on with love and faith and that is one of the gifts of repentance. Even if, coming back, I can’t see how the guilt will leave me, once I recognise the forgiveness of the father, the consequence is love. I start to recognise the love of God and I start to love Him back in a proper way.

That last stage, which is the nicest stage, is the reward of sin.

The reward of a sinner is this, instead of a just reward, God grants them resurrection and in place of bodies that trampled on His laws, He robes them in the glory of perfection. The grace which raises us into life after we have sinned is greater than the grace which brought us into being when as, yet we were not.

St Isaac the Syrian

You will be rewarded for being a sinner as long as you return. You will have a gift for being a sinner, as long as you return. The gift and the grace you’ll get for returning is more than when God first created us. It’s a big statement, we’re bounced higher after repentance, it’s the highest spiritual level according to lots of the fathers. We take this idea of returning to God from examples such as the right thief, the first one to enter the kingdom. God doesn’t know how to hold a grudge. From the characteristics of God, we understand certain things, He doesn’t know how to be harsh.

When you read the Old Testament, read it carefully, people often see in the Old Testament a harsh God, ‘He’s wiping people out’, ‘He’s killing’ but read it carefully, you’ll see that God does not know how to be harsh. The second that you say ‘Sorry, please, don’t God’, He always relents, every time, you will never see him rebuking without saying “In the end, I will glorify you”, “I’ll raise you up”. The second someone bows down and says, “God I am a sinner”, God says, “Ok stand up”. See how He’s humbled Himself to the worst kings in the Old Testament.

The Glory of God is manifested in that. Let us recognise the invitation given to us by this parable of the prodigal. Let us be inside the feast, not outside like the older son and come inside and start the process of repentance today. Let it be today, don’t wait to start our process of repentance. Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

In the Raging Sea

Translated from a sermon by Fr Bishoy Kamel

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My eyes are on you, My children. I, the Lord, am going to do a big transformation for you. Can anyone handle to see their own children thrown into the sea?

I say to my Lord that I want to increase my faith, but then that raises the question, how is God going to help me increase me faith?

When we look at what Christ did with His disciples, we see that He throws them in the water so that their faith may be increased. We, as God’s children, are sitting comfortably, enjoying life, and we ask for our faith to be increased. I pray, God, please help me to stay up and pray, and fast, and to be patient, and to wait on You until You renews my strength. All the while, I rest in my comfort zone.

Who would pray that God throws them into the depth of the ocean so that their faith may increase? Little do we know, this is the path to the faith that we pray for. If God throws us into the ocean then we have no choice but to stand and pray all night long like Jonah in the belly of the whale.

After the feeding of the five thousands, Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray while He sends the disciples away on a boat. From the mountains, He watches them in the midst of the sea.

We cannot doubt for one second that Jesus’ thoughts were not with the disciples when He threw them out in the sea. From the moment He sent them out, His prayers were with them. It wasn’t their idea, but His. When He tells them to go before Him, He is responsible for their safety.

Are not the winds controlled by God? The winds changing were part of His plan. The boat struggling in the ocean was also part of His plan to increase their faith. The story reads;

Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out.

Mark 6:48-49

In the gospel of Mark, it is clear, that in the midst of the storm, Jesus could have simply passed them by. He doesn’t immediately go to help them. It is only when they cry out that He comes to their rescue.

All this proves is that He told them to go without Him into the sea. He sent out the strong wind. He walked by them, showing that He was close by and ready to answer the call. For our Lord is always in the midst of the storms with us. Once He entered the boat, the seas were calmed and their faith in Him enhanced.

But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Mark 6:50

The disciples had completely lost hope and cried out in desperation. Their hope was completely lost, but at the fourth watch, God delivered them from their fears.

Similarly, St Paul experienced great hardship when he preached in Asia.  He says, “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.” (2 Cor. 1:9)

Even St Paul lost hope at one point. He got into the boat, it crashed and he was capsized. At his lowest, the power of the Resurrection taught him lessons he would have never learnt if it were smooth sailing.

O’Lord, help me to increase my faith. How can I increase my faith? There are two main things;

1. I become physically drained and I lose all hope in myself.
2. Then this allows God to enter my life and becomes everything I didn’t even know I needed.

When we say to God that the tribulation is too much, He says not to worry. When we are in midst of the raging seas, God is standing on the mountains, watching over us and praying for us. He is by the shore, ready to walk on the water to rescue us and be our comfort.

If we think that God could leave us in the middle of tribulation, He tells us that He will allow us to have tribulation, so that we may, “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3).

Jesus did not need to tell the disciples to be of good cheer, it was enough that He was there for them. He says this to comfort them, He is always watching them and present to help when they call. In the midst of any tribulation, His comfort is there for us. When we ask if He is always going to be there, God says that He will go through the storms, but He would never leave us in the storms alone. Every burden He carries with us.

A certain man who lost hope thinks that the devil has overcome him. This can never be the case, because we know that God will always overcome the devil. Satan may be strong, but God is stronger. Be of good cheer, God is more. If Satan tempts you, be of good cheer for our Lord has overcome the world.

The world is corrupted by sin now more than ever before. Did the raging seas have to come for the Lord to say, “be of good cheer?” Of course He did, if He said it immediately after the feeding of the 5000 then the people would have responded, “but we’re already happy, we didn’t need You.”

This was not the time for Jesus to say, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid,” for they had no reason to be afraid. The time comes after the raging seas, after the fourth watch, that was the time when they needed to hear those words of comfort.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35

Jonah prayed from the belly of the whale. Daniel prayed in the den of lions. The three saintly youth prayed in the fiery furnace. What more could we want from God? It is enough for me that I have Christ with me. It is enough for me to have God in my life. We are strong with His presence. We received everything from Him, all that is left is for us to live like Christ.

In the lions’ den, in the fiery furnace, in the midst of the raging sea, we remember our Lord. In the whole world, Christ lives in us so that we can live like Christ. He is my happiness, my joy, my hope.

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Romans 8:14

We live strong through a living hope that has no end. When the disciples went to the shore, they knew Christ. When I listen to sermons, I listen about God and I hear of His compassion, His gentleness, His kindness. He is a powerful God that has prepared a place for us. Our God has resurrected and ascended. They say so much about Him, but I hope to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). When they entered the boat, they had heard of Him, but when they made it back to land, they knew Him.

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

Job 42:5

The End is Near

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Mark Basily

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Mark 13:3-37

Our Lord discusses with His disciples the signs to come that will signify the end times are near. There is a whole list of signs to look out for regarding the end of times. Our Lord Jesus Christ concludes these signs with some advice. When you notice these signs, keep in mind this advice.

We live in a time where many will ask if certain events are signs of the end. We turn to the advice of Christ. There are a few different pieces of advice that Christ gives when we begin to notice these signs come to fruition.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Mark 13:32-37

Watch

The first piece of advice from our Lord is to be watchful. When He says, “Watch,” what is He asking to watch for? Is He asking us to watch for the signs? Rather, He is asking us to watch ourselves. To watch our actions. To watch our thoughts. To watch our intentions. To watch myself.

When Christ was speaking to Peter, James and Andrew, He tells them, “watch lest they come in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning.”

Whenever you see the rooster mentioned in the gospels, you think of Peter. In the very next chapter, Jesus says to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night” (Luke 14:27). Peter responds, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.”

We know that Peter was made to stumble, at the crowing of the rooster. Peter’s mistake here is that he did not watch. He did not assume that he was capable of stumbling. At Christ’s warning to watch, Peter says, “no, even if all will stumble, I will not stumble.”

To be watchful is to realise that I, too, have the potential to stumble. I have the potential of falling away. I have the potential to be tempted. No sin is beyond me.

When we have this mindset, we become very mindful of our actions. I can never assume that I am not capable of stumbling. Our Lord is telling us to be careful of ourselves.

…And Pray

The second thing He tells them is to watch, and pray.

It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

Mark 13:34-36

Our Lord divides the night into four sections. The evening, midnight, the crowing of the rooster and the morning. This is the exact same way the Agpia is divided. We have the evening prayer, the midnight prayer (with first, second and third services to correspond with evening, midnight, crowing of the rooster and the morning).

The church creates for us this structure to be watchful in prayer at all times. We are called to watch and pray.

Timing

The final advice our Lord gives to the disciples is not be concerned with the timing itself, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

How it possible that not even Christ knows the time of the end of the world? Isn’t He God? Doesn’t He know all things? How could it be that the Son of Man does not know the time of the end of the world?

Actually, He does know; He must know, for He is God. He doesn’t know In His capacity as a Teacher to tell us. It is not beneficial for us to know. Since it is not beneficial for us to know, then He does not know, in His role as a Teacher.

If someone comes for confession, and soon after another person comes and says, “did he confess that he lied?” What can the priest say? He cannot say yes as he cannot reveal confessions. He can’t even say no, because even that he cannot reveal. What the priest can say is, I don’t know. I don’t know what he confessed, because it is not my place and it is not beneficial for you to know.

Our Lord Jesus Christ who instructs us to the Kingdom, says He does not know for it is not beneficial to us. What does that mean to us? It means that He wants to be prepared at all times. To always be ready.

If He were to give us the exact date, then I know I can relax for now. It is not helpful to me. Rather, our Lord tells us, no one knows the time, so therefore, now is the time. Now is the time to be prepared. Today is the day to be ready.

When we look around us in the world, we can see almost all the signs of the end. There are wars, there are rumours of wars. There’s Afghanistan, there’s COVID, there’s famine. There is everything. So what do we do with these signs? Our Lord tells us to watch, watch ourselves. Pray and be prepared now.